Trent Alexander-Arnold casts verdict on Leeds United's home support after first Liverpool outing in front of 'hostile' Elland Road crowd

England international Alexander-Arnold has amassed 183 appearances for the Reds but Sunday's contest marked a first in front of a capacity Elland Road crowd.

The 22-year-old star provided two assists as Liverpool left with a 3-0 victory, and the right back highlighted the importance of acting early in an attempt to dampen the enthusiasm of the home support.

Mo Salah fired Jurgen Klopp's side into a 20th-minute lead and the Reds added further strikes in the second half through Fabinho and Sadio Mane as part of a contest in which United's Pascal Struijk was sent off.

Alexander-Arnold told Match Of The Day 2: "It's the first time I have been there as an opposition player and it's a hostile atmosphere.

"They are very loud, very passionate but we were prepared for that.

"We have come to hostile atmospheres before.

"It's about kind of killing that momentum early doors, trying to take the wind out of their sails early doors and focusing on the football, getting the ball down and playing.

"You can get sucked into a battle and the way Leeds play it can end up being a basketball game, end to end.

"We wanted to get the ball down, control the game and do what we do best and we did that.

"We didn't score as many goals as we could have but 3-0, clean sheet and three points you can never turn your nose up at that."

Leeds played the last hour of the contest with ten men after Struijk was eventually shown a straight red card following a challenge on Harvey Elliott.

Struijk won the ball but accidentally caught Elliott with his trailing leg and Elliott had to be stretchered off with a serious ankle injury.

Despite being a man down, Leeds continued in their attempts to attack.

Speaking to Liverpoolfc.com, Alexander-Arnold added: "It's always difficult to come here. It's difficult to find space but once you can, it kind of opens up and you're able to create chances – and I think that's what we did.

"They are unorthodox and they stick to what they know. Even when they're down to 10 men, they're still playing the same way that they have. It's not sitting behind the ball and defending.

"It's front-footed, chasing around the pitch and wanting to be aggressive."

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Thank you Laura Collins